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John T. Walkup, M.D.

John T. Walkup, MD is Professor of Psychiatry, DeWitt Wallace Senior Scholar, the Vice Chair of Psychiatry, and Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Prior to joining the faculty at Weill Cornell, Dr. Walkup spent 20 years at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine serving as Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Deputy Director in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He had a joint appointment in the Center for American Indian Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where he was Director of Behavioral Research.

Dr. Walkup has three main academic areas of interest. His work with Tourette syndrome, uniquely spans psychiatry, child psychiatry and neurology; his expertise in interventions research focuses on the development and evaluation of psychopharmacological and psychosocial treatments for the major psychiatric disorders of childhood including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, Tourette syndrome and suicidal behavior; and lastly, he has been involved in developing and evaluating interventions to reduce the large mental health disparities facing Native American youth, specifically drug use and suicide prevention.

Dr. Walkup has been awarded the Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Award for Academic Achievement in 2009 from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Blanche F. Ittleson Award for Research in Child Psychiatry in 2011 from the American Psychiatric Association. His team at the Center for American Indian Health at Johns Hopkins won the Bronze Achievement Award from the Institute of Psychiatric Services of American Psychiatric Association in 2012 for the pioneering suicide prevention project on the White Mountain Apache Reservation.

Dr. Walkup is Chair of the Medical Advisory Board of the USA Tourette Syndrome Association, and he serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Trichotillomania Learning Center and the Anxiety Disorders Association of America and the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. He is also the Deputy Editor for Psychopharmacology for the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. His research has been published in major medical journals including Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine, an unusual accomplishment for a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

Dr. Walkup has specific expertise in Tourette Syndrome and anxiety disorders including OCD. He also has expertise in the conditions which commonly co-occur including mood disorders and psychotic disorders. His consultations often focus on children and adolescents with refractory psychiatric disorders and include a review of the diagnostic assessments, the pharmacological treatment approach and whether there are environmental/behavioral factors that may function to sustain or enhance clinical impairment.

48. Walkup JT and the Work Group on Quality Issues of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Practice Parameter on the Use of Psychotropic Medications in Children and Adolescents. J Am Acad Ch and Adolesc Psychiatry, 2009 Sept; 48(9):961-973.